meredith



NOV. 15, A. T MEREDn-H SHIRT RACK Filed Sept. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l zy /g --JFWM j? 9 SHIRT RACK Filed sept. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States arent O i' SHIRT RACK Andrew T. Meredith, Chicago, lli. Application September 27, 1952, Serial No. 311,911 s claims. (ci. 2114-419) This invention relates to a shirt rack for use in commercial laundries to eliminate the need for folding shirts individually'and wrapping them into bundles.

In the laundering of shirts, one-third of the direct labor cost of finishing a shirt is expended in folding the shirt for packaging, and this does not take into consideration the labor involved in packing the shirts into bundles. In addition, a laundry must maintain a stock of shirt bands to go around each shirt, shirt boards to go into each shirt to prevent wrinkling, collar protectors to prevent wrinkling of the collars, tissue paper in each box, wrapping paper or boxes for each delivery, and gum tape or string. lf boxes are used they must be stocked in various sizes for different sized bundles. By means of the present invention the labor of folding shirts for packaging is eliminated and the stock items are reduced to wire hangers some'- what similar to a coat hanger, cardboard shirt carrying forms, and ordinary cleaners bags.

In addition to reduction of direct labor and material costs, conventional shirt packaging requires a folding table for either mechanical or manual folding of the shirts, which increases plantspace requirements and initial cost of equipment. The present` invention eliminates the need Afor these units.

Furthermore, the use of sport shirts has increased enormously as shown by an increase of 24% in sport shirt manufacture in the past year and a decrease of 33% in productionY of dress shirts. Packing sport shirts and other shirts of synthetic materials is a problem for both laundries and dry cleaners, because such shirts do not readily lend. themselves to folding and since they are intended to be Worn without a coat the creases which are formed. in folding a sport shirt are more of an annoyance to the wearer than are creases formed in a dress shirt and detract from the appearance of the shirt. Often sport shirts are hung on individual hangers like a coat; but this is unsatisfactory because the use of a separate hanger for each shirt creates a handling problem, both in the plant and for home delivery.

My improved shirt rack has an upright rod with a hook at the upper end and a cross bar at the lower end which serves as a stop member. A plurality of shirt carrying forms made of inexpensive material such as stili cardboard are provided with central openings so that they may be impaled by the rod of the hanger and supported one above the other on the cross bar. Each shirt carrying form has laterally extending shoulder supporting wings and a central upright collar Shaper member which surrounds the upright rod of the hanger member when the shirt carrying form is on the hanger. By this means as many shirts as desired, but preferably no more than a half dozen, may be hung on a single rack, the upper shirts on the rack being telescoped over and buttoned around the shirts below them. The bottom shirt carrying form rests on the cross bar, and each form thereabove rests on the collar Shaper member of the form beneath it.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings in which:

2,723,765 Patented Nov.` l5, 1 955 Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a shirt rack embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a single shirt carrying form of one type;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a modified shirt carrying form;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a blank for a shirt carrying form; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation showing a plurality of shirts hung on the rack, parts of the fronts of the shirts being broken away to show the manner in which the upper shirts enclose those below.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail and referring iirstl to Fig. l, a hanger member indicated generally at 10 is formed from a single piece of Stiff Wire such as is used for coat hangers, and is shaped to provide an upright rod l1 having a hook 12 at its upper end and a cross bar 13 at its lower end so that the hanger member 10 is in the form of an inverted T. As is clear from Fig. l, one end ist of the wire forming the hanger member is at the end of the hook, and the wire is given appropriate bends to bring it to the desired shape, after which the opposite end portion 15 of the wire is twisted around that part of the Wire which forms the upper part of the rod means.

The cross bar 13 of the hanger member forms stop means upon which is supported a bottom shirt carrying form 16. Stacked above the shirt carrying form 16 are a plurality of additional shirt carrying forms 17.

For purposes of illustration the shirt carrying form 16 is shown as being of one type, illustrated in more detail in Fig'. 4, while the shirt carrying forms 17 are shown as being of a different type illustrated in more detail in Fig. 3.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, each shirt carrying form 17 has laterally extending shoulder supporting wings 18 and an upright collar Shaper member 19 the ends of which are secured together as by means of a staple 20. The shirt carrying form 17 is provided with a central opening 21 which may be impaled by the rod means 11.

Referring to Fig. 5, it is seen that the blank for each shirt carrying forms 17 preferably is a rectangular piece of stiff cardboard which has aligned longitudinal slits 22 which are joined by a fold line, indicated by the dotted line 23, which divide the sheet into a shoulder supporting wing portion 18a and a collar Shaper portion 19a. To form the blank into a shirt carrying form it is folded along the fold line 23 and the opposite ends 1911 and 19e of the collar Shaper portion are brought together in order to receive the staple 20.

Comparison of Fig. 4 with Fig. 3 will show that the only dilference between the shirt carrying form 16 and the shirt carrying forms 17 is that the shoulder supporting wing portions 28 of the shirt carrying form 16 are bowed from end to end as seen at 29, to strengthen the shoulder supporting wings. The bowed construction shown in Fig. 4 permits the use of somewhat lighter gauge cardboard than is possible with the at wing structure shown in Fig. 3.

It is apparent from the foregoing detailed description that the present invention provides a very inexpensive and simple device for hanging a plurality of shirts in substantially the space ordinarily occupied by one. A rack is set up in the following fashion: The bottom shirt carrying form is slipped onto the rod and rests upon the cross bar of the hanger member. A shirt is placed upon the form much as it would be placed on an ordinary hanger and the collar is buttoned around the collar Shaper member. A second shirt carrying form is placed on the rod resting upon the collar shaper member of the first, and a second shirt is hung on that form and the collar is buttoned around the collar shaper member so 3 the rack may be lled with a plurality of forms, each carrying a shirt. The hanger member may then be hung on a vertical rod and a bag lowered over the shirts in the customary manner. If desired hangers of different sizes may be used to accommodate different numbers of shirts.

A rack of a half dozen shirts may be hung upon an ordinary clothes pole, eliminating the need for the laundry bundle racks which are required for bundles of shirts. Where home delivery service is given the racks of shirts may be hung in a truck, simplifying loading and unloading to a very great extent. The shirts hung on the rack lof this invention are easier for the delivery man to handle than are bundles, takes up less space because no boxes are required, and the shirts reach their owner in neater condition than is the case where they are folded and packaged.

Because the outer shirts on a rack do not hang as far down as those beneath and inside, when the bag is removed the owner can select any shirt on the rack and remove it without disturbing the others, merely by unbuttoning the shirt collar and slipping the shirt oi the bottom of the rack; or the top shirt may be unbuttoned and removed as from any hanger. This also saves storage space at home, as a number of shirts may be hung in a small part of a closet thus freeing considerable drawer space. It also permits easier shirt selection because shirts are all visible at once.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A shirt rack comprising: an upright member having stop means at its lower end and a hook at its upper end; and a plurality of one-piece cardboard shirt carrying forms occupying superposed positions along said upright member with the bottom form resting loosely on the stop means and each form thereabove resting loosely on the one beneath it, each form having laterally extending, generally horizontally disposed shoulder supporting wing portions which are about the same span as a coat hanger and are relatively narrow so that a shirt may hang loosely from said wing portions, and an upright enclosed collar shaper member which is positioned substantially perpendicular to the wing portions and which is higher than a collar, there being an opening at the center of the wing portions within the enclosure formed by the collar shaper member through which the upright member extends,

whereby a plurality of shirts may be hung on said rack with the lower portion of each shirt surrounding those below it and the collar of each shirt below the top edge of the collar shaper member of the form upon which said shirt is hung.

2. A shirt rack comprising: an upright member having stop means at its lower end and a hook at its upper end; and a plurality of shirt carrying forms occupying superposed positions along said upright member with the bottom form resting loosely on the stop means and each form thereabove resting loosely on the one beneath it, each form having narrow, generally horizontal shoulder supporting wings extending laterally from said upright member, said wings being of about the same span as a coat hanger, and an upright collar Shaper member surrounding said upright member upon which the next higher form rests, there being an aperture at the center of the wings within the enclosure formed by the collar shaper member through which the upright member extends, whereby a plurality of shirts may be hung on said rack with the lower portion of each shirt surrounding those below it.

3. A shirt rack comprising: an upright member having stop means at its lower end and a hook at its upper end; and a plurality of shirt carrying forms occupying superposed positions along said upright member with the bottom form resting loosely on the stop means and each form thereabove resting loosely on the one beneath it, each form having laterally extending, generally horizontal shoulder supporting wings, a central aperture to receive the upright member, and integral upright spacer means on both sides of said aperture upon which the next higher form rests, said spacer means being higher than a collar, whereby a plurality of shirts may be hung on said rack with the lower portion of each shirt surrounding those below it and the collar of each shirt below the top edge of the spacer means of the form upon which said shirt is hung.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,115,169 Cahn Oct. 27, 1914 1,179,596 Wordingham Apr. 18, 1916 1,196,943 Gilkerson Sept. 5, 1916 1,268,416 Wordingham June 4, 1918 1,332,583 Wakefield Mar. 2, 1920 1,813,932 Kennard July 14, 1931 1,980,557 Snitzer Nov. 13, 1934 2,557,627 Baril June 19, 1951 2,593,356 Smith Apr. l5, 1952 2,596,745 Waldman May 13, 1952 2,649,229 Sutter Aug. 18, 1953 

